


Years on a Calendar

by WhatifStoryTeller



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Friendship, Genderbent Crew, Multi, Name Changes, Never Exist, Sex Change, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2015-01-22
Packaged: 2018-02-14 02:10:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2174064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatifStoryTeller/pseuds/WhatifStoryTeller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After breaking a potion, Monkey D. Luffy wakes up on a fishing ship back at the very beginning of his adventure! People are missing, while others has changed drastically. It's up to Luffy to regroup his old crew before the pages of on the calendar are gone! Can he get back to his old timeline? And will he change the fates of his crew? Time!Travel Genderbent-Crew AU Slight ZoLuSan</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Skami Island

The houses were built with several beams of wood and opaque walls. Rose petals were wet from sailing on the ocean's waves; leftovers from yesterday's tradition. Franky hosted a rope over the edge of the ship and several bodies climbed down it into a smaller version of the ship. The larger ship with a sunflower lion stayed miles away from the shoreline.

Once the smaller ship decked on the island, they exited it and locked it into place. An orange haired woman stepped first onto the island. Her eyes were wide from amazement that was set before her. A metal archway was placed at the end of the dock with a sign next to it.

_'Welcome all. If help is needed, please call.'_

The woman approached the archway. On the spines of the twisted metal were locks. All of them were different sizes and shape, but they were all locked. She touched the nearest one and the dust lifted onto her finger. "Does anyone clean this?"

"Some of these locks are from 50 years ago." Another woman from the group stepped up observed the locks. "The oldest ones are dated before Gol D. Roger's age."

Nami tiled her head and stared at the archway. She took a step pass it, and immediately she saw two other archways exactly like this one being covered in locks. "How many are th-"

A boy sped pass her and entered the small city. "So this is Skami Island!"

The young girl glared. She dusted her pant legs and muttered a curse under her breath. Robin gave a small grin and walked forward with her captain. The others behind them followed. "There's not much here," a dark skinned boy noted.

"Everything's out of date," a over sized giant added onto the statement.

"This is a island of old traditions."

"Are there samurai, Robin-chan?"

"There may be a few wandering samurai, but in a island so peaceful, I believe they would have different positions." The island itself was neutral to every war because of government policies. Without many resources, it was never sought after. But if invaded, island surrounding it would attack the invading forces because of it's neutral state.

The blond flicked his cigarette and allowed the ash to fall onto the ground. "So there are some peaceful islands in the Grand Line."

"Hopefully it stays like it," Nami uttered. Trouble follows them to every island they step foot on. She shook her head; they just needed to keep Luffy in line.

The group followed their captain to the center of the small town. The path led to a water fountain where the water dipped slowly from the top bowl into a bowl with sparkling green rocks. Other paths lined down between the houses. Some were larger or smaller than the others, but they all kept the basic design. Wood was used for the base, as shown in the corners and on roofs, while a thin coat of opaque paper connected them. There were openings with a wood frame. Franky walked next to Sanji. "Where do you think the inn is? Every house looks the same."

"Shouldn't there be signs outside?" Usopp wondered out loud. How was one suppose to know which was a house and which was a shop?

"There is someone, we should go ask him," Sanji pointed to the man who was two houses away from the water fountain. Luffy walked forward, but he was quickly pulled back by the blonde. "We don't need trouble." In response, the black haired boy gave a pout and a grumbled.

Nami went toward the man. "Hello? We need some help here," she pointed to her group.

"What kinda help are ya lookin' for?"

"Where would an inn be?"

The man chuckled and pointed across the lot. "Right ther'e. First house to the left of the dockin' trail."

"Thank you," she nodded and went back to her group. "They must be friendly here. The inn's right next to the path we just took." She pointed to the spot.

"THANKS!" Luffy shouted at the man before heading to the building. The others followed him. The building was the small as others, except for a blue strip above the door.

"Color coded?" Franky uttered.

"Blue is the color of rest and night..."

The others shrugged and went inside the place. The doors were pushed inward and they walked through the wooden doorframe. "Hello?" Usopp questioned.

A man appeared from the back of the greeting room. He pulled on a blue headband and looked at the six pirates. "Six rooms?"

"There's two others. Eight rooms please." Robin answered him.

"Then you get the first eight rooms. Four on the left, four on the right. Under what name?"

"Sunny," Franky stated.

The man looked confused for a moment before writing the name onto the sheet; repeating eight times. "Done."

Before they stepped out, Nami looked at the man behind the desk. "Are there any shops nearby?"

"Look for the yellow above the doors. Red means diner, or restaurant, but there's only one in town; it's near the forest. Blue is this inn or pubs, Green is other types of businesses. If you got any questions, just come back or ask around."

She nodded at him, then turned around to followed after the others. They were already separated into groups. Franky and Robin was heading back to the ship to get supplies and the last two members. Luffy and Usopp was heading to the diner. It only left Sanji, who was waiting for her. He would, of course, be her camel while shopping.

The orange haired walked next to Robin. "Could you go with Luffy?"

Robin looked at her captain and nodded. "It will be no problem."

Nami gave a sigh of relieve and left with the blonde to go shopping. Franky traveled back on the path to the dock. This left Usopp, Luffy and Robin alone. "Shall we go, Luffy-san?"

Usopp grinned, "The forest is that way," he pointed west.

The other boy smiled from ear to ear. "Race ya there!" He stretched his legs and jumped from one place to the other.

"Shit," Usopp muttered. He picked up his bag from the ground and flung it around his shoulder. He moved quickly behind Luffy.

"This is going to be fun," Robin giggled and walked after the two.

...

Chopper turned back into his brain point after moving the last bag onto the ship. With only Brook staying on the ship, they were hiding their valuables in the bottom on the ship. The other items, such as clothes and brushes, were moved onto the smaller boat. Zoro was already there with Franky once Chopper was done with the last load.

Brook sat out and looked at the three boys. With a smile, he called out "Goodnight!" Chopper repeated it back to him with a greater smile.

The sun was already setting against the ocean. Lights on the island began to glow. Chopper's mouth dropped in awe. From this distance the lights looked like fireflies. Each one was glowing so vibrate against the simple decor. It was even more amazing up close. Candles were lite inside of paper lanterns. The pattern on the lantern was reflected against the walls. "So cool."

Franky poked the small reindeer. "We could always get some on the ship."

"Awesome."

Zoro nodded, but something so fragile wouldn't last long on the ship.

The boat reached the deck, and once more Franky tied the small version of the Sunny up. The three began to carried the luggage to the inn, but Chopper halted and the two glanced back. "Locks?"

"Oh," Franky mumbled. "Guess it's an old tradition they do."

Chopper nodded and stared at the locks. "Maybe I should leave one here too?"

"I wonder what's the purpose."

"Secrets, promises, love...? That's all I can think of," Zoro answered. "If it's promises, then Luffy would have an whole archway to himself."

Chopper nodded, and proceeded through the archway. He thought it was a cool idea, maybe he could get Luffy and Usopp to join him. The three of them, maybe the whole crew, could leave a lock like the others. Franky went through the door first and nodded to the man working there. The other two followed behind the giant cyborg. There was a hallway next to the desk. Doors were on each side. "One through eight are our rooms."

The cyborg carried his bag into the eighth room.

Zoro chose second, and Chopper gotten sixth. Each room was simple, and small. There was only a mattress, and shelves for their items. And with only paper separating them, it was easy to hear the others moving around. They placed the other bags into the rooms, having the crew members sort it out afterwords.

Going back into the hallway, they glanced down it. It was a lounge for the guests; in which they were the only guests at the moment. The man working there appeared behind them. "Hot springs are on top of the hill, a part of the inn...and local." The man disappeared back into the greeting room. Chopper gulped and slowly turned around. The man appeared so suddenly that it sent chills down his body.

"Where's the others?" the green haired asked.

"Strawhat, Longnose, and Nico Robin are at the diner. The other two are shopping," Franky paused between the two sentences; trying to remember where Sanji and Nami went. "Look for the yellow-"

"Yellow what?" the swordsman questioned.

Franky rolled his eyes and walked outside. He pointed to the stain above the door, a blue, and looked back to them. "Red above the door is the shops. Yellow is the diner...which should be next to the forest."

"Met back up at the blue?" Chopper questioned.

The cyborg nodded, "I'm gonna go shopping before it's too late." He started walking away into a column of houses. He looked above every door, hoping for the yellow marker. "This place's confusing," he grumbled. It was loud enough that the two pirates heard.

Zoro took led and started walking down a different path until the reindeer halted him. "This path leads to the hill. We are suppose to go to the one that's by the forest."

"Oh," was all Zoro could said. He turned around and started once more once he caught sight of a treeline over the houses. The two traveled along the path, crossing the paper houses and archways. Finally they reached the forest. "Red is diner...There it is," he went to the door two houses away from their path. The small reindeer followed behind, with his hooves trotting on the dirt path.

The lights were glowing more brightly now that the sun set. The supposed diner had a few more windows than the other buildings next to it. There was a panel of smooth wood on each side on the door that ended once it connected to the windows on each side.

Zoro swung the door opened and glazed around the place. It was much more opened than at the inn. Several tables were placed around the room, and a few chairs at the counter. The green haired swordsman quickly caught sight of his captain, who was laughing with chucks of rice in his mouth. The short grain rice fell onto his shirt and stuck to the fabric.

"Luffy! Ussop! Robin!" the hairy doctor squealed as he ran up to them.

"You were just about to miss the party," Usopp snickered. He picked up one of his rolls and popped it into his mouth. "Brook stay on the ship?"

"Last time, there was a riot when he came on land. Said it was better safe than sorry." Zoro grabbed a chair from a nearby table and seated himself between Robin and the longnose. Only two other tables in the diner were being used, but their were the loudest.

"That must be burin!" Luffy complained as his cheeks were full of food.

A waitress came to their table, "Would you like anything else?"

"Sake."

"Mure Meeat," Luffy barely said with his food.

"Could I have some more tea?" Robin questioned as she stirred her cup.

Chopper was looking at the menu and his eyes widen. Drool started to form at the edges. "C-Can I have the chocolate swirls cheesecake?"

"And I, Captain Usopp, will have the," he paused, "hot chocolate."

She looked above her paper, "Is that all?" The black haired nodded in response and the girl went on her way again. Her trail lead to the other table across the room before coming back to the bar.

"The outsides, design, stays with the old tradition, but the citizens seem to act differently." The elder woman took her napkin and brushed her chin.

"Just wait until you find the elders," Usopp motioned with his hands. "N-Not that they are bad or anything, just meaning they would be uh...more honest? Uh...keep with the old ways...?"

"Maybe... There should be more information about this island within a building marked with green."

Zoro's glaze slowly moved and stayed on Robin. "How are you suppose to find it with only one clue?"

"There's more signs to mark the buildings. This diner had a different layout than the inn, and a change on the outside. This leads me to believe something regarding the history of this island would be one of the oldest buildings, or the tallest. A green marker indicts a different building than one of shopping, diner, or the inn."

"There's nothing on the boat about this island?" Chopper questioned.

"Most are from the outsider's view, which shows very little changes than of those who live on the island themselves."

"Sounds boring," Luffy said. "I wonder if there's dragons on this island."

"Robin said old tradition, not old folk tales!"

The waitress came back with their dishes and drinks; placing each in front of them. Usopp picked up a spoon and dunk it into the cup before slipping from the spoon. It was piled with cream and tiny pillow-look alike, which could be marshmallows. "Thanks," he nodded.

"Enjoy your food."

"You to-"

"Better keep the sake coming," Zoro took a gulp from his cup. This saved Usopp from embarrassing himself infront of the kind woman.

Chopper looked at a grandfather's clock in the corner. "Shouldn't Sanji and Nami be done by now?"

"They must be at the inn," Usopp answered.

"More meat for me!" Luffy excited. He grabbed a chicken leg from the table and stuffed it into his mouth; biting through the bone. It cracked and shattered pieces flung across the table; barely missing Zoro who dodged in time. Even Usopp jumped; hot chocolate started spilling from the edges of his lips.

"Watch it."

"Surrie!" the captain grinned with meat stuck between his teeth. The dark skinned man gulped the rest of his sake down while giving Luffy a deadly look. It wasn't long before he changed direction to the girl coming back with his refill.

Usopp popped his late roll in his mouth. "I'm gonna go back to the inn now." His hot chocolate cup sat on the table with a slip left. "It's getting dark."

"I'm going too," the small reindeer popped off his seat. His hooves smacked against the ground as he went out the wooden door with Usopp.

...

"Looks like this has to go into the ship," Nami mumbled out loud. Their rooms were sizes of a walk in closet, giving her no room for their shopping items. With the ship nearby, it shouldn't be a problem, plus with Sanji's service, she doesn't have to break a sweat.

Sanji nodded and dragged the numerous bags along the path; Nami followed behind him onto the deck where the boat was docked. He was able to load the bags up, "Nami-swan~ I got this, so you sweet angel can go back to the inn~!"

"Thanks Sanji-kun! Be sure to place this under deck for now."

She grinned as the boat started and zipped through the waves. She could go back, but none of the crew members were there yet. She could always go visit their hot springs on the hill, but with the sun sitting, being indoors was a safe bet. Tomorrow they could explore the island more thoroughly. There were other small communities other than this one, because it was so spread out with forests and large hills amount the size of mountains parting them. _'I could always go find Luffy and the others...but they should be heading back by now...'_

She rolled her eyes and gave a sigh. They will be back soon enough.

Her footsteps marched back to the water fountain and she turned to the inn. Inside, they changed the worker. It was a middle aged woman who seen her years of hard work. "Welcome," she greeted.

"I have a room, under Sunny, here."

"Oh yes. Those are the only ones reserve tonight," the woman smiled tightly with her eyes shut. "Mukio stated so before leaving. The sheets and blankets are already in your rooms, along with your other items."

 _'Great, now I have to search for my bags,'_ she thought. "No keys?"

"No locks," the woman kindly stated. "Your rooms are assign to the first eight."

The orange haired moaned and went back into the hallway. She opened the first room, which was only a potato sack filled with few items. Luffy's bag. She moved on to the room across, but only found one bag that belongs to Zoro. Nami found her four bags in the third room, next door to Luffy's. _'Zoro and Chopper must have placed them from the order the crew joined...thoughtful...maybe too much for Zoro, though.'_

She shrugged and entered her small room. Nami tugged on the blankets and lift them over the mattress. Pillows were already fluffed at the end. 'Goodnight,' she absently thought before leaving down.

The inn's door opened and two pirates entered. "Which room's my again?"

The other voice was high-pitch, "The fourth room. Across from Nami's and next door to mine."

 _'No locks...Sanji's next door...and Robin's room would be on the other side...'_ She cursed under her breath, _'We will need to change the order tomorrow...'_

"Well, night Chopper." The dark skinned longnose yawned and opened his door. Instead was his backpack and another bag. Chopper entered his room, and quickly gotten under the blankets. There wasn't much heat kept inside of this house.

...

Light shined through the walls and onto Chopper's face. He lifted himself from the mattress and wiped his tired eyes. His arm reached black and he stretched while yawning. Taking a few moments to regain his location, he looked at the sides of his room as if staring through them to see his crew members. _'I wonder if Sanji's awake by now...'_

Usually the blonde was awake before the others, with the exception of Robin, to prepare breakfast. But now that they were docked on an island, the need for him to prepare food has disappeared.

Chopper slide the door and glanced both ways. The inn workers weren't in the greeting room, but the other end of the hallway, someone was there. Chopper slide the door back into it's place and starting trotting down the hallway. There were several couches that looked less comfortable than the floor. Robin sat with her legs crossed with a book in her lap. "Good morning," she stated.

"Morning!" Chopper said with a yawn.

Another door opened, and the blonde came out. He was already dressed in his usually suit and blue undershirt. His long legs crossed the hallway into the lounge room. "What a lovely morning, Robin-chan~!"

"It is," she nodded.

"Is there anything I could get you~?"

"There's nothing, but thanks, Sanji-san."

"What are you going to do?" Chopper uttered as he looked at the two.

Robin sat her book down. The sides of her lip gave a small curl. "The history of this island is minute, so I'll searching upon the topic. Maybe there has been more changes than some may think."

The reindeer's mouth rounded. "Oh, can I go with you?"

"Sure, Chopper-san. Is there something you are looking for?" Another door opened and Nami walked out. Sanji imminently hopped down the hallway to greet her.

"I wanted to look around at their medical books. Maybe loo-"

Nami stretched her limbs and cracked her neck. "I need a hot shower."

"There's a spa on the hill," Sanji stated.

"Hot springs," Robin calmly corrected.

"Robin, you want to come with me?" The orange haired asked.

"Me and Chopper-san already made plans."

Nami nodded and moved her hair behind her ears. "Guess I will be going." She heard other footsteps; and already knew. "Sanji-kun?"

"Yes, Nami-swan~?"

"You're not going to peek on me, are you? Or follow me there?"

"WHERE'S BREAKFAST?" Luffy jumped out of his room. He looked down and up the hallway. He didn't smell food in neither direction. His stomach grumbled and he moaned. "I'm hungry..."

"Can't you let me sleep!" Usopp moaned as he shifted to his other side. He moved the pillow and placed it over his eyes to stop the sun from burning his eyes.

The cyborg opened his door and stepped out into the hallway. "It's morning already, man."

"Looks like everyone waking up. Maybe we shall go get breakfast from the diner?" the black haired girl suggested.

"Not everyone!" the longnose wrapped his pillow tighter over his head.

"Come on, Usopp. Wake up already!" Luffy moaned from the outside of his room. The captain slide the door opened and pulled the longnose out of the bed. "We're going to miss breakfast!"

"HELP! THE ENEMY HAS TAKEN ME HOSTAGE!" Usopp wriggled about. Luffy dragged him and his pillow outside of the room. Usopp took his blanket and threw it on Luffy, "SHOOT HIM BEFORE HE GETS TO HIS BASE!"

Nami's stomach grumbled, and moaned. Maybe she should go to the inn instead of the hot springs first. Chopper's head went back and forth as he tried to decide rather which one he should help.

"Come on, Luffy. If he doesn't want to come along, he can come later," Zoro yawned. He poked out of his room, being the one across from Luffy's.

"You're up, Marimo?" Sanji questioned.

"No, I'm buried two hundred feet below ground, Dartboard."

The blonde glared at the green haired, who only ignored it and grabbed his swords. The swordsman shut his mouth and went down the hallway. "I wish," the cook followed behind with Robin.

...

The group split once again to do their activities. The two researchers went on their way for the townhall, or library; anything with historical records or other oddities within. Zoro walked around with Franky as the two were in need of some drinks. The longnose was sent to give Brook some food they brought from the small restaurant. Nami went by herself to the hot springs, while halting Sanji from coming along. Without being able to harass the ladies, he somehow was in charge of keeping his captain out of trouble.

The blonde stood there mumbling about how this was unfair, and Nami-swan and Robin-chan would need his attention. "Hey Sanji. I'm going to go explore."

 _'Oh great. Now I have to search for him,'_ the blonde rolled his eyes. "You better not get yourself lost, or I'm going to throw you into the ocean."

"That's mean," Luffy pulled out his tongue. "There's not much else to do here."

"What else could there be other than these fine beauties?" he pointed to the girls on their way to work. "So civil, graceful, and...GET BACK HERE, IDIOT!"

The lad didn't even allow Sanji to continue his speech about the fine arts of women. He raced ahead into the forest line. The cook followed after him with great speed. ' _I did not sign up for this.'_ He ran through the trees and looked both ways. Luffy was almost as directionless as Zoro; he could never find his way back to the ship by himself. "Come out, Asshole!"

He shook his head. There were fewer trees, and soon he came to an opening. Flowers bloom with insects buzzing about. The grass was contain though this was wild area. Sanji glanced around until he sighted red. "Luffy! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Yo! Sanji! Come look at this!" He hopped up and down. While grinding his teeth, Sanji went to the captain's location. "What is i-"

In front of them was a pin full of sheep. "What's with these..."

Luffy reached over the wooden goat and petted their wool. "It's rough...geeps?"

"Looks like goats. Those ones must be shaved," he pointed to what he thought were sheep moments ago. "This must be their farmland. Not far away from the town."

The black haired boy bent down, with his knees touching his shoulders. He looked into the goat's eyes. "Can I ride you?"

"You're not going to get an answer."

"Then it's a yes."

It took Sanji a moment to understand what was going on. His captain pulled the goat out of it's pin; then placed her onto the ground. The goat started to stir from being taken outside of her yard. She looked both ways and her legs started to move. The captain took no time on jumping onto her back. The goat galloped forward. Moving side to side to get the human boy off of her back. It wasn't working.

"LUFFY! JUMP OFF!" Sanji shouted. It caused the herd of goats to stir. They scattered about and made baa's noises. They were louder than the cook, which caused him to shout louder in hopes Luffy would hear and listen.

Captain did not listen. He was roaring with excitement; the goat was the total opposite. She ran towards the trees; Luffy squealed with delight; Sanji shouted with fright. On the other side of that was the city, and craze goats weren't welcomed.

In the city, Chopper stepped outside of the building he found with Robin. It wasn't a library, but it held some insightful books for his research; but the town's records were no where in sight, unfortunately. He was able to scan through the pages and took some to study on board the ship. It was run by a witch, who was nowhere in sight, but other items of the household was kept in charge. Brooms sweep the floors and retreated when one turned around. Candles lite up as they walked down the aisles.

Luffy.

Goat.

Chopper.

The goat ran forward at full speed. Chopper dropped his books and other items onto the ground, and ran away as the goat chased him. The small reindeer went to the first safe heaven he saw; the building he just exited moments ago. "SHUT THE DOOR!"

It was too late.

The goat bolted inside, Luffy was flung off and knocked several items down. A bottle broke and dust fell onto the ground.

Papers scattered throughout.

Chopper ran.

Robin observed.

The human was off of her back, the goat thought. She went to the first thing she saw: papers. Books and calendars brighten her eyes as she stormed through the small building. Her teeth sunken through one, and papers scattered from the calendar. All of them fluttered onto of Luffy's body. The dust sparkled ontop of several items that rested nearby.

"Ocho Fleur Flip."

Hands appeared, and quickly the sheep was pulled down by numerous hands.

"Luffy! Chopper! Robin-chaun~!" Sanji went from angry to confused to lovely within the matter of seconds.

"Sanji! The sheep came and Luffy and torn everything up!" Chopper looked bewildered from what has happened within the matter of seconds. The young doctor looked back and forth until he seen Luffy. He ran to his captain's said. "He's not waking up!"

"That idiot must have knocked his head on something," Sanji grumbled. "Guess we have to take him back to the ship..."

A single bottle, broken at the top, rolled across the floor. Several pieces of dust fell from the top and onto the floor.

Robin notched the goat with a rope nearby. She could already see it was a bad idea once the rope started to sparkle as it wrapped around the goat's limbs. She could only think of it as a plus as it tied itself up instead of her doing so. "Where did she come from?"

"Out pass the forest, but I will take her back, Robin-chaun~!" He dropped Luffy's body back onto the ground as he went all lovely on Robin's actions. "You're so nice and kindhearted!"

"SANJI!" Chopper squealed. "Luffy could have a skull fracture or a concussion!"

"He's made of rubber! He can survive anything!"

Robin looked at the two, and calmly put her word in. "Sanji-san." The blond turned and looked at her. "Please listen to Chopper-san. Usually by now, Luffy-san would have recovered, but he hasn't. I will take her back."

"Of course, Robin-chan~!"

Chopper's mouth dropped. He shook his head and grumbled about Sanji's reaction. "Come on, and let's go get him on the ship. I have my supplies there, Sanji-san."

"Okay, anything for Robin-chaun~!" He quickly agreed and took his captain's body over his shoulder.

Chopper opened the door, allowing the blond to walk through. He waited for Robin, but she was staring at something on the floor. "What is it?" he questioned.

"There may have been a curse on Captain-san," Robin stated without taking her eyes away from the mess the goat caused. "Everything in here is magical, some sort of way and form. As one would said, not everything is how it seems." She pointed to the rope that fixed itself onto the raging goat.

The little reindeer gulped. Something like that was beyond his knowledge. He could only hope it was only a medical issue, and not of one magically. "D-Do you think...Luffy's cursed?!"

"We won't know until all of the others choices are eliminated."

Robin took a hold of the craze goat and carried it out with six of her arms. Chopper shut the door behind her, and quickly caught up to the cook; while shivering at the thoughts of Luffy being cursed. Sanji was only three houses ahead of Chopper, which was easy for the small reindeer to catch up. The cook looked a bit peeve at the accident just minutes ago. "I told him not to ride her..." he grumbled under his breath, referring to the goat and Luffy.

Soon they gotten to the water fountain stationed in the center of the village. They took the way with the archway, and lead to the ship. The small boat form before was still docked there. Other than that small vessel, there was only a single fishing boat a few spaces across. When they passed it, Chopper held his nose. It smelled like cheese that has been left out for months with sliced raw salmon on top. "We didn't see this here yesterday...I wonder if they have any good ones..." Sanji thought out loud to himself.

They settled in the boat with Luffy rested on Sanji's lap. This only happened because of Chopper's nagging about keeping his head from moving too much. The ship was unleashed from the wooden post, and drifted into the small waves. The small reindeer transform into his human point and sail to the larger ship. Brook was standing by the figure head once they appeared.

"Good afternoon, Brook!" Chopper greeted once the boat was hosted back into the Sunny.

"What do you got there?" he questioned.

Sanji held Luffy's body in his two arms. "Baka got into an accident. What else."

"He hasn't woke up?"

Chopper shook his head.

"Have you tried this? Luffy-san! There's a fresh load of meat! Sanji-san just made breakfast, actually, now that I think about it, I am still hungry. I have to put meat on these bones!" Brook bent over with his own joke. Luffy has still shown no signs of movement. Not even a twitch in his eyelid when food was mentioned.

"Usopp has already been here?"

"He has and went. How's the island?"

"Old on the outside, a bit strange on the inside," Sanji shrugged.

"They hold old traditions," Chopper added.

"Like make sacrifices to the demons? Or run outsiders out of the village?" He opened the door to the infirmary as he questioned them. The two walked inside, and Sanji calmly rested Luffy onto the bed.

"Neither that we know of. If you want to go into the village, then go. We will stay here and guard the stupid captain and ship," Sanji uttered. Brook nodded but he stayed there in the doorway looking down on Luffy. "He's gonna be fine, right Chopper?"

"Uh...yeah," he paused. Robin's words made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He took a cloth bandages from one of his draws and started wrapping Luffy's head. Sanji held the black hair's head up as Chopper went around it with the cloth. They positioned it along his jaw and around his neck until the roll of bandages finally run out. Chopper tied the end piece around another stable piece. "He should be fine for now, Sanji-san, Brook-san. I will stay here and watch him."

Sanji nodded, but guilt caused his feet to stay on the floorboards. Unlike the others on the ship, Luffy was usually the first to recover, specially over something as minor as this. Nami-swan did give him the job of looking over this idiot. "Guess I could cook something up to munch on later. Brook, you should go and tell Nami-san and the others what happened."

The skeleton nodded, and once again, it would have seem he's traveling alone. He sat in the small vessel and unhooked it from Sunny. The vessel dropped onto the waves, which floated against Sunny. Brook grabbed the wooden sticks and started to paddle away, onto the island.

...

Brook first sighted Robin once he stepped onto the island. He was expecting screams of terror, or at least some fright from being a skeleton and all, but none came; nor did villagers. All of them stayed in their houses, which made looking for his crew members easier. The black haired woman looked up at the skeleton. "Does Doctor-san have Luffy-san under control?" she questioned.

"Yes, they sent me here to tell the others, but it would have seem you already know."

She nodded. "Zoro and Franky are at a pub, Nami should be returning from his bath-"

Brook already disappeared. The image of a naked Nami filled his mind. Maybe he could even get a glance of her panties! Blood, from an unknown source, began pumping out of where his nose was years ago. "YOHOHO!" he laughed in joy. But he halted in his path. The whole village looked the same even though he already passed seven houses. He took five steps back onto the diagonal road. His skull went three-sixty and looked for the black haired vixen. "Robin-san!" he called out.

"Yes, Brook-san?" she replied from behind a house. "Are you already lost?" She gave a slight giggle.

"Where would Nami-san be exactly?"

Robin walked over to a pagoda and pointed to the marker over the door. In this case, the marker was yellow. "First, look for a building with a blue marker. Behind it, on a hill, is the hot springs, where she should be."

"Arigatou, Robin-san!" Brook gave a bright smile and once again his feet were racing along the path. He looked at every single marker, hoping to catch a glance of blue. He saw one, but there was no hill behind it. It was only a pub, and from outside, he could hear the jolly drunks drinking and singing. _'After visiting Nami-san~! I should come here,'_ Brook thought.

The elder black haired girl gave a small grin at the skeleton's behavior. She strolled along the small path as a bag swung from one side to the other. The breeze lifted the skirt of her dress above her knees. Inside the bag was a few things she picked up from the store. Odd and ends that may or may not be helpful in the future; only time will tell.


	2. Shells Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zora, the crossdressing swordswoman. Do not fret in her sight, or she will slice you a new one.

Luffy woke up in a beaten up vessel. "Stupid goat." His lips came together and his cheeks were compacted with air. He stretched out his limbs and looked at his surroundings.

Island and sea.

Because that wasn't much help, he placed his palm over his forehead to block the sunlight and look out through the ocean for Sunny. There wasn't even a dot. There weren't any other islands from his perception, only endless sea and its sea-life. "Too bad Usopp isn't here," he frowned; the sniper had better eyesight than him. "Where is everyone?"

Behind him was the island. It was cluttered with houses on each side from the dirt path that lead from the docks to within the village. Flags and signs were posted all along the houses. There were businesses with their items for sell outside on display, and there were stands for traveling merchants. On a single brick wall were dozens of bounty posters; all of them ranging from the weakest villain to strongest foe in that corner of the sea. In one whole block of the village was all for individual's booths and stands; who couldn't afford their own space.

He could see several villagers going about their daily activities, but none of them were his crew. Nor were they the villagers of Skami Island. "Mystery~" he stated simply. His stomach growled like a lion, and instinct kicked in; look for a pub. What else was he going to do? He lifted his bottom from the small fishing boat and stepped onto the sandy beach that stretched from the docks to the dirt path. This looked mildly, oddly, similar but he didn't place it on anything.

The black haired boy walked through the streets of whatever this island was. The villagers were normal from the looks of it. He stole an fruit from a stand, and a knife missed his thieving hand. "THIEF!" the merchant called out, but he was already mingled into the crowd.

With a smile, he took a bite out of the fruit. It's sweet taste filled his mouth. "Yum," he smiled, but it wasn't enough to fill his black hole of a stomach. On his way there, he passed the brick wall of bountries. There were several papers ripped after the name, only taking the picture and price for their head. But a few of their faces almost stirred a memory; one that he couldn't exactly remember either.

Finding an pub was easy.

A few buildings down from the fruit stand, was pub. He walked inside, the place was very silent. Other than him, it was a lonely mother in the kitchen and the kid repeated her movements of making something. Luffy shrugged and took a seat at the bar.

"Oh! A customer! First one in a week!" the woman yelped, "I will be there in a second!"

Which meant more food for Luffy. He grinned in delight as the mother finally came around and took his order. "Gimme all of the meat you got!"

Her eyebrow raised as she dropped the paper. "All...of our meat?" she faintly repeated.

"That's what I said!" he gave her his friendly smile. The woman with long brown hair gave a slight nod and went back to her cooking station.

"All of our meat?!" the girl questioned in the same repeating manner as her mother.

The woman nodded and placed a few stabs of meat onto the grill. The girl, with much resembles of her mother, looked back at Luffy with bewildered eyes, in which Luffy only replied with a open grin. He gave a chuckle at the girl's reaction. Usually by now, others were use to having large orders from pirates, but it seems this empty pub didn't have much pirate business as any business.

A plate was placed in front of Luffy. "Anything else?"

"Water," he answered. Without a fork or a knife, he dived in with his two hands. He took a large bite out of the piece of meat. From the two in the kitchen, it didn't even looked like he was chewing it, only swallowing it whole. The mother filled a glass to the brim of water, in which Luffy gulped down between bites. Only an idiot would be stupid enough to interrupt his meal.

The door slammed open.

A blonde, wimpy looking, walked inside and placed himself in the middle of the room. The owner became despondent and bug eyed. The girl in the back of the kitchen gulped as the mother shooed her out of the building using a backdoor.

Behind him was two marines, which caused Luffy to keep his head bent, hoping they wouldn't see his he got caught, he would have a angry Nami on his backside. But a voice in the back of his head started nagging him about money once he thought of the orange haired girl. 'Shesh, Nami, I got enough!' He patted his pocket where he usually kept his walking around money, but he only felt the remaining core of the fruit he stole from moments ago.

Now he was going to get caught by the marines for not paying.

"Feed me and my men for free," a blond stated as he sat down in his chair. The marines sat down and the blond looked at his hands. With a jeering glance to the mother, he became cheeky, "It's quite boring. So I've decided to execute her tomorrow. So everyone, look forward to it!"

The woman became waned and dropped the package of vegetables on the ground.

Luffy empty his plate and dashed for the door; away from the marines. Just like the old times. He raced down the street, pass the fruit stand, and ended up running into an alley. Without much help, he made a full circle back to the pub's alleyway.

There was the girl sitting on the steps. "He's still in there...maybe I can get this to...if I'm fast enough..." the girl mumbled under her breath. She folded a napkin and stuck it inside of her skirt's pocket.

Luffy, with zero clue on where else to go, followed the little girl, until she gotten to a marine base.

He blissfully smiled.

Finally he seen one of his crew members.

He hopped over the fence that the girl was getting a ladder to go over. "Wait!" she cried out, her hand reaching out.

Luffy already shot himself through the air and landed right in front of the person. Deadly aura filled the air around them. Smells of sweat, dirt, and other juices filled the air. But even with the horrible scent, Luffy still smiled at his firstmate. "Zoro!" he became ecstatic, "Man, you got caught by the marines again!" Luffy just laughed in Zora's grave face.

Zora was tied to a wooden post in the middle of a Marine Courtyard. Her forehead was covered by a dark green bandana that caused the skin around her eyes to darken. Her arms were tied, on separated sides of the beam, and sweat dribbled onto the ground. Her dirty white shirt had three buttons on top were unbuttoned, allowing others to see the bandages underneath it. Her shirt was dirtied, even stained black in some places. Other than above her neck, her entire body hanged limp.

"..."

"What's wrong? Oh, where are the others?"

Her face showed no emotion other than glowering. "You're bothering me. Go away."

"Oh, looks like the thief came here himself," a voice stated from behind Luffy. The black haired boy turned around and looked at the five. A blonde was leading four other marines, the same blonde from the pub he left moments ago.

The marines moved fast under the wimp's commands, and grabbed Luffy's body. "So you're a devil fruit user. Guess we will have to drown you." The blonde laughed, "Anyone who helps any prisoners will be executed by the order of Captain Morgan." The marines, who grabbed their seastone handcuffs from inside, slammed them shut on Luffy's wrists. When the five of them were inside of the Marine Base, they saw from the window that Luffy stretched himself to get to Zora. So in a panic, they grabbed their only pair of seastone handcuffs; despite the lack of devil fruits in the East Blue, they had one pair for cases like this. "He's my father, you know."

"Hey! No fa-...ir..." he lumped to the ground as the seastone touched his skin as he became faint.

"I told you to get away," Zora sourly stated. 'His voice seemed a lot softer...' Luffy thought, but shrugged. A cloth wrapped around the darkskin's forehead, a way to avoid sunburns from her being left out there in the courtyard. The clothes were tattered and filled with dust, liquids, and other stuff. Flies surrounded the body as they smelled the smell from far away.

"You're that brat from before!" Luffy yelped. "Wasn't Coby with you?"

"I have no clue what the hell you are talking about," the blonde petulantly stated. "But I'm Captain Morgan's son, Helmeppo. My father will know what to do about you." The blonde chuckled as he made his way back into the gates. The marines followed behind with Luffy cuffed to them.

"Shit," Zora mumbled under her breath. That blithe boy was now caught in that insolent wimp.

...

"Can't you take these off me?" Luffy begged them once again.

The marines' mouths stayed shut as they followed behind Helmeppo, not even daring to smash Luffy against the wall from his annoying nature. The four of them moved in pace behind the blond as he walked up to the highest floor. Once they gotten to a certain door, the marines waited outside of the room as the blonde went in.

"Father."

"Helmeppo."

"There was a thief at the pub. He stole food and took it to our prisoner, Roronoa Zora. He's a devil fruit user, I seen it with my own eyes."

"Fill one of our buckets up with seawater and lock him out there with the other prisoner."

Helmeppo chuckled and withdraw from the door. He looked at Luffy with a devious smile. "That's why you don't help scum," the blonde smiled and chuckled. He retraced his path back down the stairs, even stopping at his room to get something.

"...Your room's pink. Girl color."

"Shut it! If I tell my father about this, he's gonna kill you slowly and painful!" He slammed his door shut and glared at the strawhat wearer. "You are lucky I was the one that caught you, and not my father."

"You're still going on about your dad? I thought you were pass that," Luffy rolled his eyes. So much for turning into a decent guy. Maybe that's why Coby wasn't with him anymore.

Helmeppo stomped off down the hallway. The marines gulped as they held onto Luffy. "What the fuck are you doing?!" one of them questioned before they caught back up to the onion haired blonde. Once they caught up, they remained silent as they walked behind the blonde.

"Two in the back. Go get our largest bucket filled with seawater. I want it in the courtyard before we get there."

"Roger!" The two of them walked pass him and practically ran down the rest of the stairs.

"This is what happens when you mess with me," the blonde stated as he walked down another flight of stairs. The two holding Luffy continued. "Actually, don't one of you still have those handcuffs? Cuff his legs as well."

They obeyed imminently, even while they were on the middle of the staircase. One of them dropped Luffy's arm and grabbed his handcuffs that hanged on his side. He bent low to the ground and placed the cold metal on each of Luffy's legs. Once they were back into position, it was difficult carrying Luffy down that flight of steps. His feet dragged down each step, and with more contact with seastone, he was clingy onto the two marines.

Finally they were on the bottom ground. Two large doors laid on each side of the hallway. One was the main entrance, and the other was to the courtyard. The door opened automatically, and they walked through. Luffy's legs made a line from dragging to the barrel of water several feet away from Zora. Her body hanged there, overlooking the water as drool formed at the edges.

"Thirsty, are we?" The onion fool took this time to taunt the Pirate Hunter. "You are really stubborn to be alive." He threw his head back and laughed at the misfortune of Zora.

Zora didn't move a muscle, but deadly aura filled around her, "I will live through the entire month!"

"Get on with it, you fools!" he turned his attention to the marines. They looked at each other and to the barrel. Luffy was then manhandled over the slimy water and pushed in. "By tomorrow morning, I guess this will be goodbye!"

"Ten more days left." Zora stated as she glared at the retreating marines.

"If only you will live that long."

He finally left the courtyard with the other four marines. The sun was setting along the fence line. It was silent between them, until Luffy opened his mouth. "How did you get caught?" Luffy's curious got the best of him.

"None of your damn business."

"Actually...it's because of me," the little girl from before stepped away from the fence. She walked up to the post and dug into her pocket. Within a napkin, was two riceballs. She looked at Luffy, "Zora-san defended me when Helmeppo's pet wolves attacked me... He and his father rules everything on this island..."

'Weird, I heard this before...' Luffy thought. "Zoro, you're my firstmate, right?"

"As if I would ever become scum like pirates," the green haired firmly stated back. She turned to the small girl, "What?"

"Aren't you hungry?" Rika picked up one of the riceballs. "I made you some riceballs. My first try!" She reached to her tippy toes, aiming for Zora's mouth.

"You're going to get yourself killed. Leave already," she bluntly stated.

"But you haven't eaten anything!"

Zora's eyes widen for a moment, but harden as she turned her head away from the girl's reach. "I'm not hungry."

She took a step back, hurt by the woman's words. But she went back again. Finally, Zora opened his mouth, seeing as how the girl wouldn't move back even if she glared at her. She chewed on the riceball even though they had an odd taste. Sugar. It was the only that she has eaten within the pass few days. "How was it, Onee? I used sugar since I thought it would taste better."

"It was..delic...ious... Thanks for the food..."

The little girl smiled and feed Zora the last one. Just from seeing food, Luffy's stomach grumbled. He should have stayed longer and ate the rest. "I have to get back, goodnight!"

"Girl, can you pull my head up a little?" Luffy asked. His neck was started to get closer to the water.

"Uh...okay..." She walked over to him and placed both hands on his jawbone, unable to see another part of his body, and pulled up. His neck stretched and she gasped, almost letting go. "W-Wha?!"

"See, I'm rubberman!" he laughed. She pouted and dropped his head, which banged against the wooden barrel.

"Rika, get out now. They are coming." Zora stated with a harsh tone. The little girl dropped her napkin and raced back to the fence. She slowly climbed up and by now, the marine was making his way into the courtyard. Her legs went over the rock, and she climbed down by the ladder.

Neither of them said a word as the marine patrolled the area. "I could have sworn I heard something..." he mumbled under his breath as he went back inside.

'He doesn't remember me.' Luffy looked at Zora, and thought back. "Hey, Zoro. If I help you escape, you going to join my crew."

She was called 'Zoro the Pirate Hunter' by others, but those who knew called her 'Zora.' Zora opened her mouth, "You want me to become a bad guy? Not a chance."

"Why not?"

"Pirates are scum of the world. Why would I want to be one?"

"It doesn't matter. Everyone already thinks you're an evil demon."

"I don't care what they think about me. I've never regretted doing anything in my life, and I will survive this and do what I want."

"And I already decided you're going to join my crew."

"YOU CAN'T DECIDE THAT!"

With that taken care of, Luffy rested his neck and fell asleep in that position. Zora scowled at his unmoving body, if only he would drown faster.


	3. Shells Town 2

"Idiot! Wake up!" Zora grunted.

Luffy moaned as he moved his head from one side to the other. He took a deep breath to yawn, and water started to fill his mouth. He spitted it out and held his lips above the water. If it weren't for Zora, Luffy would have drown in his sleep.

"It's morning already? Man, I'm hungry," the boy complained.

"You're about to drown, you know."

"And I"m hungry," he paused and strained his eyes to the fence, "That girl's back."

"I brought some more riceballs for you..." she mumbled as she once again unfolded a napkin from her pocket.

"Can you try to knock over this?" Luffy questioned, "Or untie Zoro's ropes? That way he can escape."

"They are going to catch her for even talking to us. Who knows what they will do if she helps us to escape," Zora firmly stated. "And if she doesn't leave now, she's going to be caught."

The girl didn't listen to Zora. She was listening to Luffy's advice. But the barrel was too heavy and hard for her to knock over, so she started to loosen Zora's ropes. She gotten one hand free, but Zora told her to freeze. The door opened once more, and a marine came out to checkup. Rika was hiding behind the large barrel, her her head ducked between her knees.

"You all are still alive?" he questioned out loud. He looked at the surrounding walls, but it didn't look like anyone was there. "Helmeppo-san wants to met with you later, Roronoa Zoro. Be ready." The marine did a quick sweep of the surrounding and went back in.

Something told her it wasn't going to be a good thing. "Rika, press on the barrel with your back," Zora ordered. Last time, she was doing it will her hands. The girl obeyed, and it came an inch off the ground. Water began pouring out of the barrel, making it lighter. Luffy's body shifted and leaned on that side, and soon the barrel knocked down on the ground. The water was adsorb by the ground within seconds. He smiled and began wriggling his way out of the barrel. With some help from Rika, he was able to stand up.

"Thanks! Now I gotta get these cuffs off...and you need your three swords."

Zora's eyes widen. This idiot barely knew her name, yet he knows of her swords.

Luffy, while walking with handcuffs on his feet, was one of the hardest things ever. He fell down on his knees and began crawling, it was making more progress than it was taking steps. The door opened, and he wiggled inside.

"Go to your mother, things are going to get out of hand soon."

The girl was still trying to undo the other knots, but it wasn't working. "Onee...don't die..." she left finally and Zora sighed. Whatever that guy was doing was gonna be dangerous. There was no way she was going to stand there are die.

_/ / / /_

_Two little girls fought on top of a hill. Their swords clashed and one of their swords broke in half. She fell back into the grass as the taller one pointed the tip of her wooden sword at the minor. "My 2001th victory!" Her sword thrust into the ground right between Zora's neck and shoulder._

_"Dammit!" the smaller one cursed. Liquid gazed her eyes. "I was so close!"_

_"The one who should be upset both of us. When we go up, we will graduating become weaker than males. Unlike you, I'm already starting to become weak. You want to become the World's Greatest Swordsman, right? Papa said girls never become number one, but I want to become the World's Best too."_

_"That's unfair! You said that after you beaten me! That's why we have to fight harder! Harder than any other male! So if one day I beaten you, not because I trained hard, but you grew weak?!" She lifted up the sword and stared at the blue haired girl. "Let's make a promise! One of us must become the World's Number One Swordsman! It's going to be a race to see who gets there first!"_

_"Stupid Zora! You're the oen who lost to me, not the other way around!" Kuina grinned, "I promise!"_

_..._

_"Zora-san...something terrible has happened. Kuina...some thugs beaten her up on her way to the next town..."_

_"What's wrong with her?!"_

_"She's...unable to move any part of her body."_

_"B-But we just made a promise last night! To become the Greatest Swordsman! This can't happen to her!"_

_Zora looked up at her Teacher, Kuina's father. "Zora, humans are really fragile beings. An accident from decades ago can still restrict a healthy person today."  
_

_"Sensei! Please gift me with Kuina's sword!" She bowed her head to the ground as tears swelled up._

_"Yes," he stated calmly._

_"I WILL BECOME EVEN MORE GREATER! I WILL BECOME THE WORLD'S GREATEST SWORDSWOMAN! SO FAMOUS THAT EVEN HEAVEN WILL HEAR MY NAME!"_

_/ / / /_

The keys were no problem to find. They were stationed along a wall with handcuffs for fast arrests. He leaned against the wall and edge his way back onto his feet. His hands reached out and he grabbed the keys, dropping them onto the ground. Luffy bent low and grabbed the metal items once again, turning them into the handcuffs that surrounded his feet.

Klang.

Clang.

Cling.

Clank.

All of them were unlocked, and now he was free. He had to find Zora's swords. Which would be...in Helmeppo's room. The one with the pink door. He raced up the steps and down the hallway, he halted once he passed the pink door, retracing his steps he came in front of it. He turned the doorknob and looked inside. Helmeppo was looking into the mirror as he was picking out his outfits. "Today's execution gonna be great!" he chuckled. "Zora's not going to know what hits her!"

Luffy's hand stretched and smacked the blonde right in the jaw. He held onto the spot and looked at Luffy. "So I did go back in time..." he mumbled under his breath.

The wimpy man shivered and raised his arms to protect himself. "Y-You hit me! But I'm Captain Morgan's son! I-I'm gonna tell my daddy on you and he will execute you!"

"Where are her swords?" the rubberman demanded.

Timidly he pointed at the three swords by his dresser. "There! Don't hit me!"

Luffy hit him again. This time was a little harder that caused him to get knocked out. "Ops. Guess I'm stronger than then." He left Helmeppo on the ground and went to the window. Marines were surrounding Zora and the little girl was no where in sight. Even Captain Morgan was there. The marines were around Zora, ready to take and execute her.

Luffy opened the window and Gum Gum Rocket jumped out of it, landing right in front of Zora. "You really do have a devil fruit..."

"Hey, Zoro. If I give you your swords, you going to join my crew. Unless if you want to be killed by marines. Which do you chose?"

"Blackmail..." she grumbled under her breath. "I rather become a pirate than die by their hands." She used the sword and slice the last remaining rope. She lowered onto the ground, all three swords were in her hands and one in her mouth, "But let's get one thing straight first, today I'm opposing marines, making me into a criminal, so I'm becoming a pirate to follow my ambition. I don't care rather my name is clean or not, as long as my name will become famous. To be nothing less than the World's Greatest Swordswoman." She made eye contact with him, "If you do something that ends up in the way of my goals, you will apologize to me by the end of a sword. Alright, Captain?"

"World's Greatest Swordswoman sounds good to me," Luffy smiled. "Anything less than the best to be on the Pirate King's crew." Zora simply replied with her signature smirk.

"Don't stand there! SHOOT!" Morgan ordered, "You idiots!"

Bullets sprung from their guns, all of them were aimed at Luffy and Zora. Luffy smiled and stretched his body around the swordswoman. Their bullets halted as they were no chance against Luffy's rubber.

"What are you?"

"I'm Luffy D. Money, the next King of the Pirates, and the Rubberman!" He chuckled as he went back into his normal form. All of their shocked faces entertained him. He missed this, usually his enemies already knew of his powers and the shock wasn't there.

"I-I told y-you he was a Devil Fru-" one of the marines uttered as he shivered. He was looking down at his feet, and within a moment, another gun shot, a body laid on the ground. Luffy's arm sprawled out and smacked Morgan right under his neck. There wasn't enough force to kill him, but enough to make him fall back and take a breath.

The two made eye contact once more, an conversation played between them, ended with Zora nodding and charging forward. Her sword was met with Morgan's battleaxe for an arm.

Luffy could personal knock them all out with one sweep, but he kept them at bay while Zora battled against the Marine Captain. From past encounter, he knew that he shouldn't harm these marines, specially after what Morgan displayed by shooting his own men. He shrugged and maintain a safe distance away from them and Zora's battle.

Their blades clashed, but Zora's extra one made the deal. In one swoop, he was defeated by her hands. The other marines dropped their weapons onto the ground. Not even daring to fight once their own captain was defeated.

"Captain Morgan...he was no match for Zoro..."

..

They rejoice in the pub. Rika's mother, thankful for her daughter's wellbeing, forgave Luffy for his dash earlier. And with her daughter's savior saved from execution, their meals were on the house.

"I was getting worried when the marines began announcing your execution..." she said as she sat down a plate in front of the Pirate Hunter. "But now it's all over. I don't have to worry about my little Rika so much! The whole town indebted to this duo."

"Eh, we didn't do nothing," Luffy simply told her. "If it wasn't for her, I would have drown."

'Drown?'

Zora looked across the table at this odd person. The bandana was now tied to her forearm, and her short curls of green hair went from one place to another. She brushed one side back behind her ears; which came back within seconds. She leaned forward with her arms on the table, "How many do you have on your crew?"

"Was eight, but for now, you're the only one!" He gave her an idiotic smile, but she was more or less wondering it he was just an idiot or an inmate from an insane hospital.

"...so it's just me and you?"

"Yup, until we find Usopp, Nami, Sanji, Broo-" He was going to list all of his crew members, but Zora stopped him there.

"What about your ship?"

"Usopp has it."

"What have you been sailing in then?"

"A fishing boat," he pointed out the window where the docks could be seen. His small fishing boat sat limply as if ready to break.

Zora threw her head back and laughed. What the fuck did she get herself into? It's already too late too turn back down, she could only go along with him until their paths divide. "Won't be much when you're on the Grand Line."

"Just wait and see," he gave her a giant grin and thought about the Sunny and Merry. Now that he has Zoro, what happened after he gotten Zoro? He tried to remember an event that happened so long ago. He knew Nami was next, but where did he find her?

"Yo, Luffy? Something wrong?" she leaned over the table and raised one of her eyebrows.

"I'm just hungry," he replied.

"There's no more meat," Rika said. "You ate it all already."

"Guess we should go then."

"Yeah, before Helmeppo wakes up."

Zora and Luffy stood up from their seats at the table and pushed the chairs in. Zora's swords shifted in the green haramaki around her waist. They two of them walked out where they were meet with numerous marines and villagers. "We're already leaving," Luffy uttered and walked through the crowd.

"We are grateful for what you have done, but you ha-" He paused in mid-sentence. They were already leaving without much resistance. "We won't report this to the headquaters!" He yelled, but they were already walking down the street.

The two folded their arms behind their heads and trotted to the dock, the marines were still following them. Zora looked out into sea; it didn't look like they brought any superiors with them. The black haired boy picked a fishing boat that seen better days. It wasn't much, but it was better than the ones she has been sailing in. At one end of the boat was a barrel of apples with a rough blanket on top. _'He's not even prepare to be a pirate...'_ she thought.

"Bye Rika! Marines I don't care about! Rika's mom! Fruit merchant!" Luffy waved them goodbye.

"YOU STILL HAVEN'T PAID ME!" the fruit merchant squealed.

Someone behind him smacked him on his head; his wife. "They just saved the island!"

The marines crowded around the shore and saluted them as their boat drifted between the waves. "Never thought I would see marines saluting pirates," Zora smiled and chuckled; this boy was a different kind of pirate alright.

Luffy joined in with her.

...

The two of them were at sea on the small vessel. Luffy's legs were stretched out and his head was hanging outside of the boat. Zora folded her arms behind her head as a pillow and quickly fell asleep. The blanket was in the middle of the boat, only able to cover their legs and not much else. Her haramaki and swords were at her side, tangled around one of her legs; and bandages were loosen as well.

They slept peacefully on their first night together.

As they drifted off into their dreamlands, something kept bugging Luffy. Why doesn't Zoro remember him? Where are the others? Do they remember him? And why did he wake up from here out of anywhere?

He didn't want to think about it, but it bugged him. It seemed like he time traveled back to the starting point.

Maybe this time it will be different.


	4. Orange Town

Using the end of the blanket, Zora soaked it into the water and scrubbed her arms and legs. She could still seem the musk from being tied to a post without taking a break for three weeks. The grub started wash away slowly. Now her tanned skin was actually her skin tone and not darker than it was. The girl was lucky Rika and her mother tended to her clothes. The black stains from before were barely there. And the stench was now only herself, who hasn't had a proper bath within a month.

"So you're becoming Pirate King? Any reason?" Zora questioned as she lowered her pants leg down.

Luffy pointed to his strawhat. "Made a promise to form an amazing crew, find One Piece and become King of Pirates." The tip of his finger felt against the straw.

"Same here. Made a vow to become World's Greatest Swordsman no matter what to a friend."

"I'm hungry," the strawhat wearer moaned after a few moments. As soon as he said that, a growl came from his stomach.

She leaned her head bewards, outside of the ship, and stared. "How long until we get to an island?"

"Nam- whenever the waves take us," he shrugged his shoulders. "Guess we've to fish and wonder until then."

"If you're going to be a pirate, shouldn't you know some navigation at least?"

"That's why we gotta find a navigator..." He paused and looked at the sea, "if we find an island."

Zora chuckled and loosen her bandages. With the pace they were going, there was no need for her to maintain her fake gender. "How do ya suppose we fish?"

"String from the blanket."

"For a hook, we could use a nail from that barrel," she added. She stood up and bent over the barrel, and loosen the nail out of the barrel. With a little too much force, the nail popped out and dropped onto the bottom of the boat. It rolled under the seats, back and forth, from his side to her side. The two of them scrambled their hands and searched for the loose nail. "There it i-!" The nail rolled back under Luffy's seat. He stood up and reached under. A shadow flew pass them, but neither noticed. They were too busy catching the nail than anything.

"Got it!" He held up the metal nail and gave his almighty grin. Zora smirked and took the nail back. She unsheathe one of her swords, the weakest out of the trio, and started sharping the end. She bent the end, and made a hook.

Luffy rubbed his thumb against the rough fabric, causing the thread to move about. He chose one random thread and pulled it out. Zora quickly caught the end and held onto it as Luffy broke it off from the other threads. "One line and hook complete," the green haired smile and looked at the handcrafted fishing rod- without the actual rod. "Hopefully these fishes are dumb enough to fall for this."

"No apple cores either," Luffy rubbed his head. "Guess we can't use bait."

Doubt started flooding in as she looked at the string that could barely hold anything under 4 pounds. "Can't you just punch something out of the sky or something?"

He looked overhead and there were no bird or beast in sight. The only thing that filled the sky was the shining sun and a single cloud. He stretched his arm out and it all coiled together in one large pile. He threw his hand in and imminently felt the power draining away. The woman took a hold of his arm and waited. "I think I got something."

The green haired nodded and whipped the arm out of the sea. Eight fishes were biting along her arm. Drool began to form. Within moments, the arm was wrapped back inside of the boat. Without much care, the two began picking the fish off of the arm. Each ending up with four. Without any preparing for the catch meat, Luffy started his small feast. Zora slowly followed behind.

"Zoro, do you think we will find an island any time soon?"

"Hm...not if we followed that cloud," she pointed up to the sky.

Once again, something tugged on his memory box, but it didn't come unlock. He nodded and placed his hands on the oars. After placing the blanket, failed fishing rod, and other junk back into the barrel, the two rowed after the cloud. With no other cloud in sight, it was easy to track this one. The more excited they've gotten about finally getting on land caused them to row harder; they even managed to pass the cloud. Now they were sailing whichever way the boat was facing.

The boat hit something and flew over a few meters. The girl stopped and looked behind, to see if they caught any food. Instead, it was only three men doggy paddling in the sea.

"Help!"

"Let us on!"

"We aren't stopping! Better grab on!" she called back with a laugh. She held on to her paddles again and made eye contact with Luffy. The two of them grinned as the three swum near the boat. They started paddling once again, keeping out of reach of the three males.

Finally, the two stopped and the three males came headfirst into the boat. "Ouch!" one of them moaned as he rubbed his head. The other two, a bit smarter, stopped in time and held onto the boat. They all climbed in and stared at the two pirates. "That wasn't much help."

"We could always leave you," Luffy shrugged.

"Hu-...About your boat..."

Zora's glare stopped them from even trying to take the boat. They gulped and held their hands up in defeat.

"So, which way to an island?"

The bigger male glanced back at his other two mates. "You were lost?!"

"Better head us to an island, unless if you want to stay here." She crossed her legs and tilted her head at the three of them. They gulped once again under Zora's gaze and took hold of the paddles. With all of their forces combined, the three of them paddled through the sea and finally an island was in sight.

"You're Z-Zoro the Pirate H-Hunter, r...right?" one of them questioned.

"That's what they call me," she shrugged.

Once again, they gulped and sweated in fear, "A-A de-demon..." one of them whispered. The other two shivering in fright. They were leading the biggest Bounty Hunter right to their captain on that island. It was already bad enough their ship and their treasures got taken over by some guy.

The boat hit against the sandy beach, and all of them were thrown out of it. The Swordswoman took a hold of her swords and without any words, the three ran away.

"They must be in a hurry," Luffy stated. He grabbed his strawhat that laid on the ground, and placed the string around his neck. He stood up and looked at the city right when a flash appeared over a line of houses. The flash disappeared, as did the top halves of the houses.

Zora was turned around as she tighten her bandages around her chest once more, and her haramaki. "Looks like someone's having fun."

"Oh yeah!" Luffy yelped. In a flash, he was already gone.

The green haired girl's eyes widen and she took off after him. She had no clue what has taken over him. They ran throughout the rows of houses, some of them were without roofs, and made it to the square.

"I found you! Nami!" Luffy smiled in delight. "Why are you in a cage?"

An orange haired male sat cross-legged inside of a metal cage. He wasn't as skinny as Luffy, but he have many muscles either. A pair of sunglasses sat on his forehead, one side was broken from a fight beforehand. His ears had a shiny stud that glowed when the sunlight hit it. His orange hair was short but longer than Zora's; the front of it curled and covered his forehead and eyes. He stared at Luffy as if he just walked in on a murder taking place.

A clown was several meters in front of him. A key was in his hand as if he was gloating, but he quickly pocketed it away once he saw the visitors. "The two of you dare to stand in front of me? Buggy the Clown? Have you not heard of my name? You should be bowing in front of my flashy stance!"

"Oh! Hey Buggy!" Luffy waved.

"You're still not bowing!"

"Hey Luffy, you know this guy?" Zora pointed her thumb at the Red Nose Clown.

"Yup! Long time no see!"

"Who the hell are you?!" Buggy's nerves finally melted.

"Guess you don't remember me. But you will, because I'm going to be the King of the Pirates!"

"You don't know who you are talking to, kid!"

"Yeah I do." He shrugged and Zora finally walked up the steps and stood behind him. "Yo, Zora, could you cut the cage?" He pointed over to the imprisoned orange haired male. Zora was about to follow her pirate's orders when Buggy's shouts halted her. Niko

Buggy grinned, "You're Zoro the Pirate Hunter!" He chuckled, "You two came for my head!"

"Not interested" she stated with a shrug of her shoulders, "Just came because of him." She pointed to her captain. "Luffy, these are iron bars. We need a ke-"

"Heh! What a small flashy detail that no one would miss! If I kill you, I will become more famous!"

"Watch out! He has a devil fruit!" Niko, the orange haired man, yelled out. This seemed like the only chance he had to get free, as the Buggy Pirates already decided he could be dead. He slide to one side of the cage and looked around, and gulped once a lion's face came into view. The giant pink lion stared into the cage as he licked his lips. 'I'm going to become Lion food!' He slide to the other side. Mohji hopped on top of the cage and grinned at his tamed beast.

"Got something else to said?" the Beast Tamer questioned.

"No worries," Zora pushed it to the side. She unsheathe her swords and charged forward at Buggy. With numerous slices, the pirate was down. He was sliced into squares. "That's it?"

"He's not done!" Luffy called out.

"What do you mean?" she questioned. She took a few steps back and watched as the pirate regrouped his pieces back into one.

"I ate the Bara Bara no Mi, so now I'm a splitting man!" Buggy grinned as he thought Zora was frowning because she was afraid, but more so that was her usually face. "Swords don't work on me!"

"Guess I have to make them!" Zora tried once again, cutting Buggy into different slices. First with his head then his chest. But as soon as the swords left, Buggy reconnected them.

"Better luck next time!"

He drawled out his dagger and it clashed against Zora's sword. His other hand disconnected and went to her side. The dagger flew out of his hand and back into his disconnected hand. With one thrust, the dagger pierced Zora's side; something she wasn't suspecting. Crimson soaked her haramaki the dagger pierced deep. She dropped to one knee. Buggy retracted the dagger and chuckled as the woman was now kneeling to him.

"It may not be critical since I missed the organs, it's a serial wound. Which means, I'm the winner!" Buggy chuckled as his head went back and his pirates joined him. Zora winced in pain as she tried to close the wound with her bandana.

"I let my guard down..." she mumbled. 'I'd even knew he eaten a devil fruit...but I was careless..."

The male in a blue and white striped shirt looked down at his lap. 'The situation worsen...yet I can't get out of this crappy cage...All three of us are going to be lion food...'

'It still happened...' Luffy thought as he tilted his head. He glared at the Clown Pirate. "That was a cowardly move, Big Nose!"

"You could have say anything but that!" Niko excited.

"BIG NOSE?! WHO'S GOT A BIG NOSE?!" Buggy used the same dagger and threw it at Luffy's head; in which he swiftly caught the blade with his fingers.

"I'm tired of you already," he yawned, "Well, this should be quick."

"As if I'm going to get defeated by a rookie! Unlike you, I have more tricks up my sleeve than you think!" He gestured to the cannon behind him.

'He's going to use the Buggy Balls. I'm going to die...' Niko grumbled and looked at his lap. If only he could escape, but Buggy had the key in his pocket. He side glanced at the lion, who was now drooling. "Hey! You want a piece of me?" He taunted the large animal. 'Hopefully this works...'

Mohji jolted up as Richie clawed at the cage. "It's well past your feeding time. Guess a little snack couldn't hurt." The lion grinned and showed all of his sharp teeth to Niko. The male gulped and waited for the lion to break through. His claws only weakened the metal bars, but after getting impatient, he took a large bit and crushed the cage. He smashed a ball to the ground and dust appeared surrounding the cage. He climbed out of the wreck and away from the beast and his tamer by jumping down to the square.

Now, it's time for a flashy finish!" He took a few steps to the cannon in the middle of the square, turned it to Luffy, and lit the end.

"Oh fuck!" Niko, the orange haired man, cursed out loud. The other two weren't far away from him, so when that cannon strikes, he was going out with it. He needed to get away faster, so he sped behind the houses.

Luffy trotted in front of it and kicked it over, aiming at Buggy's crew. They all gulped, and before it was too late they raced away. In a quick second thinking, Cabaji used the unknowingly lion as a shield. "Richie!" the Beast Tamer cried.

"You harmed my men!" Buggy glared at the rookie.

Buggy unsheathed a small dagger from his belt. "You dare to oppose me and harm my men." He charged forward and slashed Luffy's shoulder, as he was able to dodge most of the attack. Cabaji threw Richie to the side and hopped onto his Unicycle. He raced down the steps, looking for the male that just disappeared moments ago.

The captain separated himself into pieces, which was a great mistake. "Gum-Gum Gatling Gun!" His arms stretched and instantly hit against the air and Buggy's body parts. As the aged pirate tried to escape, he would only get punched by Luffy's speedy punches. The move finally ended and Buggy restored himself to his former glory. He wiped his chin and looked at the rookie. "Interesting skill there, but it's no match for me!"

"Another Devil Fruit user?" Niko gasped as he peeked around the corner; as did others on Buggy's crew. Other than their own captain, they never saw another Devil Fruit User. They were so uncommon in the East Blue, that most believed them as myths. "It's like nightmare..."

Buggy spread his hands and they darted through the air. Dashing up and down, but Luffy grabbed a tree and dodged it. While he was there, he trailed back and shoot through the air. "Gum-Gum Pistol!" Buggy's body parts jumbled onto the ground as he wasn't ready for a rebound. Luffy quickly grabbed several of the body parts and held them.

When the old fool tried to reassemble, he ended up looking like a dwarf. His forearm, waist, knees, and other parts were all tangled together in Luffy's hands. "Here!" Zora threw ropes at Luffy. She groaned and held onto her side as she battled against the lower ranked members. Mohji was still nursing Richie as the others were taken off one by one.

"Thanks," he grinned and started tying the parts up. He made eye contact with Buggy and threw the bundled body parts into the sea.

"Cruel," Zora commented.

"NOO!" Buggy shouted as he ran to the shore. His crew followed behind him like lost puppies. His Firstmate and Secondmate were having a glaring battle as they reached the shore; their captain already jumped into a boat.

Niko poked his head from the corner and smirked. Those two settled the Buggy conflict, now he had all of their treasure to himself. He whipped out the keys and turned around to head to their treasury. And here he thought he would have to act like a Buggy Pirate for at least a week before taking his treasures.

/ / / /

"So, a new recruits," Buggy looked over his cup of ale. "Why should I let you join my flashy crew?"

"I have excellent navigation skills of all of the East Blue."

"I already have navigators, kid. And they are all flashy!"

He gave the pirate a sly smile. "I have studied all my life. You haven't seen any of my fine works."

"Well then," he leaned over. His arm shifted on the armrest. "One can never have too many crew members!"

"Let's have a feast!" A dark-skinned boy raised his ale to the sky.

"Cheers!"

"What's your name, kid?" Buggy gave him a wild eye.

"Niko."

…

'It was too easy', he thought. Pirates were so simple minded and easy to fool. And it kept getting easier and easy as the alcohol spread throughout their bodies. It has only been an hour, yet they treated him as one of the crew.

If only they knew.

He searched around the crew, looking for their weakest point. But with them all intoxicated, they all were on the same level.

Sea charter.

It was easy as that. One of the pirates, who just entered the feast from their treasure hunt, sat down and gulped ale. In his pocket was a folded piece of paper. Who knew what secrets were inked onto that parchment.

"Drinking contest?" Niko questioned as he held up his cup of sake.

The mischievous pirate rose his glass and gave him a petulant wink. "You have no clue that you're facing off with." He chuckled as one of the pirates filled their cups to the brim.

The refills kept coming until the languid pirate knocked over and fell onto the ground. The slip of paper lay underneath him.

As cunning as Niko could be, he grabbed the folded paper from the ground, slipping it into his jean pockets.

"You're not only a navigator, but a thief as well," Buggy's voice came from behind him. The boy gulped and slowly turned around. It hasn't even been a day, yet he was caught. "Boys, thrown our little friend in the cage! Let's show him how flashy Buggy Pirates are!"

They all cheered together and grabbed Niko as if they haven't been bonding for the last hour. Captain's orders always came first. "Been awhile since we seen a display!"

Buggy took out a cannon from a rack and loaded it into a cannon, in which the chore boys sat out in the middle of the square. His Firstmate positioned it to a row of houses as Buggy showed the rookie his power. "This is what I like to call Buggy Ball!" He swiped a match on the carton and lit the string on fire. He took a few steps back as the Buggy Ball launched.

A whole row of houses were destroyed.

"Now, you're going to see a firsthand flashy experience!" The clown turned the cannon onto Niko.

/ / / /

"Where do you think you're going?" Zora smirked as Niko jumped back. This was the person Luffy went out of his way to save. Must be someone important at least.

"I'm going to my house."

Luffy jumped down from the roof and stared at his navigator. "Hey Nami, I didn't know you lived here."

"That's not my name! It's Niko!"

"Oh. I'm Monkey D. Luffy!"

"Roronoa Zoro," the green haired girl added. Zora tilted her head; chagrined at Luffy's choice of a navigator. The orange haired looked faint and dour. "Luffy, you sure he's the one you're looking for?"

"Hell yeah. She's our navigator!"

That was Niko's last nerve. He punched Luffy on the head for peeving him off. "First off, get your eyes check. I'm male, if you can't tell, idiot. And I'm no one's navigator." He winced as there were more to that sentence, '...except for Arlong...'

"We need a navigator for our crew," the rubber boy begged. He didn't give a second thought to the gender change.

"I knew it! You're pirates. Filthy pirates. Buggy and you should have just wiped each other out."

Zora sighed and looked at the sky with a scowl, "He doesn't want to join. We can always find someone else."

"Nope, I already decided Nami's gonna be in our crew." Luffy was set on taking Niko as his navigator.

"Niko!" the man punched Luffy's head once again, causing the bump to rise. "We have no more business with each other, so you two can leave already."

"Didn't we just save your life?" Zora uttered with a glint to her eyes. She was pretty certain that the orange haired was locked up in a cage surrounded by bloodthirsty pirates until the two of them gotten there.

"And I'm pretty sure I saved yours too, Buggy would have gotten you. We are equal now."

Luffy groaned, now this was going to be even harder to get Niko on his crew than last time. With a slight idea, he grabbed the keys from his keys and threw them to Zora. "Those are mine!" the boy yelped. Zora, now included onto the plan, took a few steps back as Luffy jumped on the other side of the square. She threw the keys and Luffy caught them. "Rotten pirates! Taking whatever they can when they can!"

"Weren't you doing the same?"

"I steal only from pirates! I'm never lowered myself as low as scumbags like pirates!"

"Let's make a deal! You get these keys back, but you will be our comrade!"

Niko halted and glared at the rubber boy. "As if I would work with the likes of you." He turned around and left the square.

"I thought he would put up more of a fight," the girl added and followed behind her captain. 'It's not like we could trust him after we gave him the keys,' she added as an afterthought. Blood soaked through the fabric and ran down her legs. "I need a nap..." she yawned.

"I think the villagers are out still, so we can use one of their hou-"

"Buggy Pirates!" An old man ran in front of them. He was padded with cardboard and pieces of metal, like pans and bowls. He had a simple staff of wood and aimed it at the two. "I'm the village's mayor, and...I will protect this city no matter what!"

"We already defended them," Luffy grinned.

"Y-You defeated Buggy and his crew?! B-But..." He leaned over and closed his eyes, moping. "I have failed as a mayor...I couldn't even protect my own village and allowed outsiders to do it...now the village's in ruined because of me..."

Zora leaned against a house and fell onto the ground. "W-What's wrong with him? He's bleeding! We need to get him to a doctor!"

"I just need some sleep," she motioned.

"My house! It's only a block away! I can um... go and call for the village's doctor. They are all sheltered in the hills."

"Thanks Old man," Luffy picked up his Firstmate and dragged her to his simple house. It was only one floor with the basics. The bedroom was in the back, so he laid her over the blankets and placed some towels at her side.

"You can go already," she told him.

"Sure," he nodded and raced out of the house. He scratched his ear and wondered where Niko would be. "...Has Nami always been a dude..?" he wondered out loud. "But Sanji doesn't like guys. They're weird."

He walked down the road and stopped imminently when he saw the pet store. It was undamaged unlike the other buildings surrounded it. "So this is his treasure..." he uttered. He walked inside and looked around. It was a firmly small shop with most of the items inside in great need of restocking. But now there were more left than one simple box that he could only save last time. He turned around and stared at ChouChou. "You're still guarding your treasure. Don't worry, this time nothing's gonna happen to it. At least, not while I'm around." He promised.

Captain bent down and held his hand out. And the dog only growled at him. He took that as 'Get the hell away from my treasure' so he stepped over ChouChou and waited outside. He tried once more and reached out the palm of his hand. The dog only sniffed it and sat down in front of the doors. "If you weren't guarding this, I would've taken you as a crew mate." Luffy chuckled at the mental picture of Buggy running away with ChouChou biting his ass.

The dog tilted his head at Luffy's words, and the rubber boy took that as an invitation to rub his head. "You're one tough little runt." He looked around and seen a food bowl filled as the Mayor already been here.

He watched the pirate from the shadows. He only came back for one thing, but he wasn't suspecting the boy to be this innocent for choosing the life of a pirate. The two of them seemed like they were bonded with each other, even though it was the first time they have meet; if you didn't include Luffy traveling back. Luffy laughed as the dog licked his knee; just like a child. The two of them looked blissful even though one of them was scum.

Niko hid back into the shadows, leaving behind his broken sunglasses.

...

He sat in front of the other docked boat and waited for what seemed like forever. He started to nod off, but he seen a shift in the shadows. He half-closed his eyes and waited for the shadow to get closer.

A hand touched his pocket, searching for a piece of metal.

Luffy grabbed the hand and pulled the shadow man into the light. "So we're comrades?"

He lowered his eyebrows and his forehead wrinkled. He could only be so lucky in a single day. "How do you know I'm a navigator..?"

"You are better than I am and Zoro. We had run over some pirates, and they had to sail us here," he chuckled.

"That has nothing to do with me."

"We need a navigator, simple as that."

"I don't believe you. Pirates are fuckin' scum, use anything to cover up their lies. I only look after myself, solo, I don't belong on a pirate crew."

He bit the inside of his mouth, "You don't have to be a pirate, just our friend and comrade."

Niko stared at him. "You barely know me. We met only a couple hours ago."

"I just know you're a good person. Plus I already decided you will be on my crew."

"Is that all you care about? Your crew size? Look! Isn't that your ship? Yet you call yourself a pirate!"

"Just starting out. We need to get our other nakama!"

This was the only way to get the key, he reminded himself. He sighed and looked down at the ground. He could always betray them later. "Fine, I will be your comrade, only because allying me with you, there will sure be profits."

"Sure!"

"I'm gonna regret this..."

Luffy chuckled and stood up, handing over the key to Niko.

...

After regrouping, the three of them went back to the square. All of the Buggy Pirate's items remained; they must have been scared away to ever come back to this spot. Niko savaged the remains before unlocking the door. The Pirates used a part of Townhall as their treasury as they stayed on the island. It was more of a walk-in closet than a wine cellar. Cabinets were on both sides, filled with high quality items.

"There it is," Niko smiled. He grabbed a loose chart from the pile and stuck it in between his sash and his forearm. His precious was finally back after all of the trouble it gotten him into.

The other two grabbed a clothe sack and started loading the bags with it. "This is enough to buy a ship," Zora humored herself.

"The best ones in East Blue are those in the marine," Niko added.

"We'll find the best one. Just wait," Luffy chuckled to himself.

"Does he always do that?" he questioned.

"Better get used to it."

Just who did he exactly sign up with? The orange haired shook his head in displeasure. He knew nothing of these two other than one was a Devil Fruit User, and the other was the infamous Roronoa Zoro. Over a stupid piece of metal, he joined a group of rouges. At least the two knew how to protect themselves, and the leader seems gullible at most.

They filled the bags until the whole storage was empty, and went along their way to the ship. It was enough to fill two bags. Niko carried one, as Luffy carried the other. Zora followed the two out very slowly as she held onto her wound.

"PIRATES!"

"WE GOT YOU NOW!"

"DON"T TRY ANYTHING!"

They were surrounded by angry villagers. Niko gulped; first it was the pirates, now the citizens were after him.

One of them stepped forward, "You guys are the pirates, right?"

Luffy just nodded, "Yup, we the pirates."

"Look what you've done to our village!"

"You Numbskull! Why would you tell them that?!" Niko demanded.

"It's the truth," he gently laid down the bag and looked at them all. 'Guess they aren't mad this time since I didn't knock out the Mayor.' Speaking of the mayor, he wasn't anywhere to be spotted.

"Get them!"

All of them decreased the distance between them. Luffy side glanced at his two crew mates, grabbing both of them in his rubbery arms. As an instinct, Niko grabbed Luffy's bag. The rubber boy stretched them too safely, away from the angry citizens. They chased them throughout the alley. Luffy purposely went by the Pet Store, and there the dog was. Sitting in the same spot. But he moved once he saw the others chasing after the trio. He snarled and grunted at the citizens.

"ChouChou?"

'Thanks!'

Niko picked up his pace with Luffy, but Zora hanged onto Luffy's back. The Navigator and Captain carried the bags and Zora, and finally came to their selected boats. Niko hopped on his stolen Buggy's boat, as Luffy dropped Zora in their fishing boat. "They stopped chasing us," Niko observed, while relieved. He sighed and started rowing from the island's shores.

They were out in a distanced when the mayor appeared once more with the citizens, much more calmed down. He was panting and bent over as he took in large breaths. He straightens up and stared at their saviors. "THANK YOU, BRATS! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!"

"TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, OLD MAN!" Luffy replied as he waved.

"He doesn't even know our names," Zora smirked as she leaned against the side of the ship.

"Once we get to the Grand Line, everyone gonna know our names," Luffy countered.

Items dropped to the bottom of the ship. The two pirates turned and gave Niko a questioning look. His mouth was opened as he looked at the clothe sack of treasure. "One of the bags is missing!"

"Oh, I left it on the island."

"You what?!"

"They needed the money to rebuild."

"B-But it was my treasures!"

"And now it's theirs."

"YOU IDIOT!"

"Captain has a point, Navigator."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Luffy ever call Niko his name? Possibly, with time. But now? Nope.
> 
> Why Niko? I didn't know any other names starting with N, other than Nanny (yeah...). Heard Niko on an episode of Community, and I love names with K in them (Luka), so I chose that. I was searching for N's names (as well as other letters for the rest of the crew), and didn't find anyone that stuck out as much as Niko did. Because it sounds like Nico in Robin's name, I changed Robin's surname.
> 
> Origin of Nami: If you do not know, but in Japanese Nami means "wave". In other parts of the world, it could also mean Wisdom, and Nani (in Hawaiian) means beautiful. She was also based on Oda's eariler works, Ann and Silk, in Romance Dawn; side fact, if Ace was a girl, his name would have been Ann. In 4kids, instead of being '"Cat Burglar" Nami' (which links to a seductress), her wanted poster name would have been 'Nami the "Navigator"' (sounds badass, right? No one in their right minds would want to face a Navigator [increased sarcasm])


End file.
